Wednesday, April 27, 2016

The
2015-16 school-year is wrapping up. It is so sad that the music world
lost singer, Natalie Cole, David Bowie, Glenn Frye, Maurice White, and a
few days ago, Prince (and Billy Paul). What would the music world be
without these wonderful pioneers? They were great entertainers and
creative innovators.

First of all, the Still Waters Youth Sinfo-Nia Orchestra's Spring Concert will take place this coming Saturday, April 30th, 5:00 PM at
the First Congregational Church Commons located at 125 Ellis St.,
Atlanta, GA 30303 - "The Elements of Spring" paying tribute to Earth,
Wind, & Fire's, Maurice White, founder and one of its lead singers.
Tickets are $15.00 for adult and $10.00 for child. The music of this
talented group were full of positive, inspirational messages of humanity
bringing people together of all races, nationalities, and so on. The
voices sound like a choir. They used real musical instruments. The
repertoire for this concert will include, "Shining Star," "That's the
Way of the World," "September," "Boogie Wonderland," "Reasons," "After
the Love is Gone," and many others. I have been up many late nights
writing (arranging) this music. We have been holding a number of
rehearsals preparing for this performance. Please bring your family;
invite your friends, co-workers, etc. Although you are bringing your
children, this concert is really for you - the adults that
grew up listening to these wonderful classics. I was in high school
when their first hit came out. I made it through college listening to
them, attended one of their concerts after graduation, and wrote
marching band tunes.

Next,
all of a sudden we hear of the shocking news on the death of Prince.
Many of us still cannot believe it. Many memories of my days in
graduate school and beyond into my teaching profession. I also wrote
marching band arrangements of his tunes for some high schools and
colleges.

Sinfo-Nia's 27th annual two-week Summer Camp will take place June 13-24, 2016:Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. We do offer drop-off as early as7:30 AM and pick-up as late as 6:00 PM.
Tuition is $350.00 per student plus $40.00 for the two required
T-shirts. However, we are offering our "Early-Bird" Tuition Discount
Special of $300.00 per student if it is paid-in-full by May 31, 2016. We also offer additional discount for anyone enrolling more than one child in their family.

Tribute to Prince: Our Summer Camp Concert on Thursday, June 23, 2016 at 6:00 PM will
be a Tribute to Prince. We will perform a number of his songs. He was
an entertainer that played 27 different instruments. With what we are
seeing in schools cutting out instrumental music programs in public
schools across the U.S. (including metropolitan Atlanta), many children
are missing out on this wonderful opportunity for success in academia in
any field of human endeavor. many of our leaders have had some
training in music. Many students in high school have remained for
graduation because of music, even the ones that are not enrolled in
music who love listening to their peers play it.

Open House and Pre-Registration for Summer Camp will
take place on Saturday, May 14, 2016 from 9:00 AM to 12 Noon. This
will be an opportunity for students to sit in with their instruments to
get a "sample" of the fun they could have in Camp. They can play
through some of this exciting music (I may have a few Prince songs ready
by then). If the parents like what they hear and the students feel
comfortable, they can register for the Camp. We will have application
packages and parents can make a down payment.

Performance Tour to Rio-de Janeiro, Brazil:
Originally we had planned on traveling to Jamaica this July, but will
do so next summer 2017). We are looking to travel to Rio this summer
due to a conference there. We are looking to secure funding to assist
in the cost for each child to go. We are planning to take some college
students as well as some are looking for a "study-abroad" program this
summer. We are looking to collaborate with a few youth orchestras there
and possibly a college or two. We will perform some Brazilian bossa
nova and samba, which will be taught in our Camp. By all means, we will
perform the music of Natalie Cole, Maurice White (Earth, Wind, &
Fire), and Prince as they are loved all over the world. If you know of
any college or high school students who are interested in this trip,
please contact Mrs. Alycia Robinson at (404) 428-3804.

I
have attached (white - saves ink) fliers that you can download and make
copies. You may certainly forward this e-mail message to your friends,
family, co-workers, etc. If you have relatives that live out of town
that play instruments and would like to attend our camp, they are
certainly welcomed as long as they have a place to stay in metro Atlanta
(like with you and your family). In the past we have had students from
the following states to participate: North and South Carolina, Alabama,
Louisiana, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Colorado,
California, Florida, and Kentucky.

We hope to see you at our Spring Concert this Saturday if you can make it. Again, this concert is really for you, the adults. Consider this concert a portion of the "soundtrack" of your life. Have a wonderful day.